Gifts From Our Visitors
Eleanor Chin, Clarity Partners Coaching

In an article I wrote for Hand to Hand in 1993, I described the visitor services staff as the museum’s nervous system: “the major receptors of the messages from our curious, confused, elated, distressed, sated and fatigued visitors.” Fourteen years later, I believe the analogy holds up well. In their words and their behavior, visitors send us messages about what they like and don’t like, what works and doesn’t work, what matched their expectations and what didn’t. The museum’s front line staff is often
the first to receive these messages.

Admittedly, some of the messages are easier to receive and interpret than others, but all of us who work in museums need to hear them. The stories included here reflect the whole range of human drama in our museums. Frank, poignant, humorous moments elicit deeply personal reflections of the joys and challenges of working on the front lines with visitors. Through reading them, we can come to appreciate the richness of the human moments that our visitors bring us and the deep commitment of our front line staff expressed in between the lines of their stories.

In an era that is becoming increasingly dependent on technology, human moments are being touted as revolutionary for business. Psychiatrist and brain researcher Dr. Edward Hallowell talks about the power of human connection in his landmark article “The Human Moment at Work”: “The positive effects of a human moment can last long after the people involved have said goodbye and walked away. People begin to think in new and creative ways. Mental activity is stimulated.” In the context of our
museums, the human moments that our visitors encounter prepare them for the rich learning we offer.

As I read these stories, I am also reminded of how courageous it is for front line staff to bring their best to visitor interactions—no matter what—day after day. Behind the scenes, we’ve seen that strategies such as mutual support systems, humor, empathy and genuine love of working with people are key to maintaining the spirit and appetite for public interaction. Another useful outlook that front line staff often strive for is a positive perspective. What does it look like to maintain a positive perspective? I recall a book about customer service called A Complaint is a Gift that changed my perspective as a front line staffer. In the
title I discovered a revolutionary paradigm shift about customer complaints—complaints are free feedback on customers’
needs and expectations. If we can view complaints as gifts, we are well on our way to gaining a positive perspective
as front line staff.

Of course, not all of the visitors’ gifts are complaints. The stories here reflect the complex relationship we have with our visitors. Proud of our customer service culture, we always respect our visitors yet occasionally we are surprised by what happens on the floor. But beyond the joy and frustration, these stories are a rare opportunity for all staff to experience what the front line staff experience. Our challenge as museum staff is to ask ourselves what can we take away as the gift, indeed the learning, from each interaction?

For example, when visitors keep asking the same question, maybe they’re telling us something about how to improve our signage or services. Are we willing to truly listen and then question the way we’ve always done things if they aren’t working? How are the visitors’ questions, confusions and yes, complaints, trying to help us become better at serving them?

These questions suggest organizational self-examination and visitor focus at all levels of our institutions. The most successful museums know that serving visitors well requires a museum-wide effort. And experience has taught us that leadership from the highest levels is especially critical to anchoring any cross-functional efforts. As museum staff we must ask ourselves what we can do to provide real support, respect and value (in every sense of the word) for front line staff. Supporting the staff that support visitors is the foundation of an authentic visitor-focus mindset for our museums.

Ultimately, by seeing visitor stories as gifts and sharing the visitor focus institutionally, we gain a vision of what’s possible when we shift our perspectives on the importance of listening to stories about visitor contact. It leads us to be curious about the visitor experience in new ways. We can imagine the possibilities as we read these stories by asking ourselves: How could our museums be different if we viewed all interactions with visitors—including the messes, eruptions and complaints—as gifts
to our own learning?

In 1993 Eleanor Chin co-edited with Kathryn Hill, the first (ever) issue on museum Visitor Services for Hand to Hand. After twenty-two years at the Boston Children’s Museum, consulting in the museum profession and ten years in the private sector, Eleanor now runs her own business, Clarity Partners Coaching and Consulting, working with individuals and businesses to improve personal and professional effectiveness.

REFERENCES
Barlow, Janelle, and Claus Møller. A Complaint is a
Gift. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, Inc., 1996.
Hallowell, Edward M. “The Human Moment At
Work.” Harvard Business Review, Jan/Feb, 1999.

back to top

Mr. Farrell’s Pickle Video
by Peter Kisilik
Visitor Services Manager
Miami Children’s Museum

One of the most effective customer training videos thatused at the Miami Children’s Museum is the picklevideo. In it the CEO of Farrell’s restaurant chain, Mr. Farrell himself, describing his epiphany after receiving an angry letter from a customer. As standard operating procedure, Farrell’s put pickles on the table for every customer. One loyal customer, who loved his pickles, asked for some more only to hear the waitress answer that there would be a side order charge of seventy-five cents for more
pickles. He wrote a letter to Mr. Farrell stating that if this was the way he ran his restaurant then he would take his business elsewhere. Reading the letter, Mr. Farrell realized the secret, just give him the pickles! Our customers are our bosses and their repeat business is much more valuable than the price of a pickle.

What are the pickles children’s museums offer, and what should we give away to make our customers happy?

Most children’s museums have some kind of store exhibit, and everyone knows the issue of “restocking.” On a busy day things fly off the shelves faster than you canput them back. Of our two types of shopping containers, hand-held baskets and mini shopping carts, the most beloved are those shopping carts. Unfortunately four industrious children can quickly put all of the stock in their carts, leaving the store looking like the bottled water aisle before a hurricane in Florida. To combat this, we have put
false Plexiglas bottoms in the carts, effectively halving the total volume of the baskets. This works to a degree, but during peak crunch hours we still have to put the carts away and children can only use the hand-held baskets until the numbers have dropped. Ideally we would like to have all the shopping carts out all of the time, but sometimes they can actually limit the number of children who can play at shopping.

One day, a parent who wanted all four of her children to have carts. The museum educator pointed out that plenty of baskets were available but the parent insisted on having carts. Knowing that this would mean an all-handson-deck call to restock items on the food shelves the museum educator said, “Of course we can get the carts out for you.” She realized that for this customer the carts were the pickle! No matter how much extra effort it would entail, it was worth it. On this day with this mom, this was a pickle we could easily give.

back to top

Below is a list of more than articles featured in this Customer Service Tales issue of Hand to Hand. Unfortunately, space does not allow us to feature all that contrubuted, but we do want to acknowledge and thanks to all who contributed.

I did not learn EVERYTHING I need to know in Kindergarten! by Paula Burdge, Guest Hand to Hand Editor & Director of Visitor Service, The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum

Who Do You Hire? by Joe Olson, Senior Director, Visitor Services & Volunteers, Minnesota Children’s Museum

Building a Better Floor Staff by Megan Fischer, Visitor Services & Volunteer Manager, Providence Children’s Museum

“The Buses Are Here!” by Chrystal Leonard, Visitor Services Manager, Exploris Museum, Raleigh, NC

“Help, I’ve Lost My Dentures...and My Granddaughter.” by Erin Duffy, Visitor Services Manager, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Schoonerside Chats by Andy Moy, Guest Connections Team Member, Chicago Children’s Museum

From the Desk of a Novice by Holly Dinman, Family Programs Educator, Chicago Children’s Museum

Why So Many Floor Staff? by Kimberly Stull, Director of Guest Services, DuPage Children’s Museum, Naperville, Illinois

Too Much Information by Lucy Ofiesh, Head of Visitor Services, Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York City

Above and Beyond the Call by Dawn Feddersen, Visitor Services Assistant, Family Museum of Arts and Science, Bettendorf, Iowa

On the Front Lines... by Alicia Ferguson, Museum Service Manager, KidsQuest Children’s Museum, Bellevue, Washington

Legends of the Lost and Found by Sharon Anderson, Director of Community Relations, Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Norwalk, CT

The Avocado Knife by Joan Cardenas, Director, Visitor Services, Creative Discovery Museum, Chattanooga

Madeline’s Birthday by Marjorie Waxman, Marketing & Development, Staten Island Children’s Museum

Richard by Peter Clark, Former Gallery Manager, Virginia Discovery Museum, Charlottesville

The Collected Wisdom of HCDC Floor Staff, Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center

The Grocery Store vs. “The Grocery Store” by Tonya Kowalski, Education Coordinator, Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum, Stevens Point

The Museum as Berlitz Center by Angel Ramirez, Para los niños Project Coordinator, Children’s Museum of Houston

Two Stories from Frontline Hosts by Claudette Hercules, Ruth Bailey and Edie Green, Frontline Staff, Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY

Bottom Line by Elaine Wideman-Vaughan by Vice President, Education & Community Programs, Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia

Why We Work in a Children’s Museum by Linda Frischetti & Staff, Children’s Discovery Museum, San Jose

back to top

Did you like this article? Have a comment or idea that you'd like to share? Post your comment on the Message Board. Not registered on the Message Board yet? Follow these simple instructions to register today!

Hand to Hand is ACM's quarterly journal which highlights national issues and trends in the youth museum field. Articles include interviews with key individuals, program overviews, and museum profiles. Opinions expressed in the journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of ACM.

Mary Maher is the editor and designer of Hand to Hand. Unsolicited manuscripts, letters to the editor, artwork and photographs are welcome.

ACM members receive one copy of Hand to Hand. Additional copies can be ordered by contacting ACM. Volumes 1-5 $20 per issue; Volumes 6-Present $15 per issue. View the Hand to Hand index for a list of back issues.